These words were barely spoken.
The Tathagata and the Burning Lamp Buddha, as expected, were shocked and bewildered once more, utterly unable to comprehend the meaning!
One was stunned on the spot.
The other was enraged!
"This damned monkey is indeed toying with us!"
The Burning Lamp Buddha was not just angry this time.
Firstly, Sun Kong had repeatedly courted death, tormenting them, which had long since filled him with much ire. He desperately wanted to retaliate.
Secondly, he had exchanged the not-so-plentiful ten thousand zhang golden mountains for Sun Kong, only to receive two nonsensical phrases, making him extremely annoyed.
While he cursed, he almost mobilized his full cultivation and numerous spiritual treasures to fight Sun Kong to the death!
He was, however, quickly stopped by the Tathagata beside him.
Speaking on his behalf.
"Kongkong, let's talk properly, there's no need to be petulant."
"We two are not intentionally making things difficult for you, nor do we not believe you. We are merely afraid that if this Journey to the West tribulation begins prematurely, with too many variables, it will be difficult to control."
"Could you please explain, what do you mean by 'speculation,' 'real estate,' and 'finance'? Is this some new divine ability or spell you have recently comprehended?"
Unlike the Burning Lamp Buddha's impulse to kill Sun Kong, the Tathagata, being of higher cultivation and the leader of the nine Quasi-Saints, had a different first reaction. It wasn't that Sun Kong was deceiving them, but rather that they themselves might be too foolish, lacking the intellect to understand.
Furthermore, considering Sun Kong's previous actions, his repeated courting of death that did not incur heavenly punishment, but instead earned him implicit and explicit endorsements from the two Western Sages, Nuwa, and Yuanshi, among others. He had, in essence, opened every possible backdoor.
The Tathagata's perception of Sun Kong, his adopted son, had changed repeatedly, to the point where he was now almost completely obedient.
Even if Sun Kong wasn't intentionally courting death or deceiving them, but simply didn't want to explain.
The Tathagata still held him in immense admiration and respect. He had truly become the first die-hard fan of Sun Kong after his transmigration!
Seeing the Tathagata playing peacemaker, and the Burning Lamp Buddha being so infuriated that he was almost manifesting his true form, Sun Kong felt a little embarrassed to go too far. He then simply explained.
"Real estate? Houses, understand? Since so many people are coming, and they all need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, we can take this opportunity to auction off plots of land on the new Flower-Fruit Mountain and Spirit Mountain."
"Among these people, the most lowly can naturally do without houses, finding any cave or big tree will suffice. But some will want to enjoy themselves."
"Let's take this chance to introduce villa districts and poor districts. The former will be for cultivators of Golden Immortal and above, the latter for those below Golden Immortal."
"They want to contend for the merits of the Journey to the West starting from me, don't they?"
"Easy. We can't kill them, nor can we drive them away. So, we'll deliberately publicize it, stating that contending for merit also requires qualification. Those in the villa district can come once every three days, and those in the poor district can come every ten days."
"If anyone is not convinced, just beat him until he complies. After all, there will always be someone willing to pay the price, and who will be happy to see others suffer."
"This way, we can both divide these inexplicable masses and harvest immense profits. Forget a mere ten thousand zhang golden mountain, even ten or a hundred could be compensated to you."
As Sun Kong spoke halfway, the Tathagata and the Burning Lamp Buddha were instantly filled with joy.
They might not have understood what real estate was, or why speculation could be more effective than the first step of quelling rumors with rumors.
But they understood the mention of "tens of thousands of zhang golden mountains." The anger they felt towards Sun Kong immediately halved.
Their eyes were so filled with gold that they could barely see anything else. If not for their cultivation and identities, Sun Kong would have suspected them of being imposters. How could these two honored Buddhas be more avaricious than misers?
Then he thought, managing the food, drink, and daily needs of hundreds of millions of Buddhist disciples, it was no wonder they had gradually become so obsessed with money.
Before they could ask further questions, Sun Kong simply laid out the true intention of the third step.
The third step, even more ruthless than the second step of real estate speculation, was to turn the entire Journey to the West tribulation into a massive financial project!
"The total merit for this tribulation, whether it's as much as originally intended, or the ten thousand times that some spread by rumor, or the amount we spread by rumor, can all be considered a super financial project."
"The name of this project will be 'Journey to the West Investment,' where everyone can earn merit."
"The specific process will be for them to participate based on their own abilities, turning into the eighty-one tribulations. Those who can block us will have their merit doubled, and those who cannot will be responsible for their own gains and losses, and their own life and death."
"And before we begin, to prevent the entire Journey to the West tribulation from descending into chaos, we must classify them into levels 1 to 18 based on their origin, power, status, cultivation, and the incense offerings they donate."
"The higher the member level, the greater the chance to win a lottery to obtain the qualification to participate in the tribulations, and vice versa. If someone does not donate incense to gain member status and then participate in the lottery."
"At the very least, they can be eliminated by others at any time. In severe cases, if they appear during a tribulation, I, Sun Kong, will not show leniency, as they would be considered disruptors of the heavenly order, and there will be no appeal even if they are killed."
"And the specific winning probabilities, of course, we can control ourselves. Apart from the allies who must appear in the original eighty-one tribulations and whom we cannot offend, everyone else can be arranged as we see fit."
"In this way, we can alienate them, make them fight amongst themselves for these benefits, harvest massive amounts of incense, and, at the same time, threaten forces like the Heavenly Court. Isn't this killing multiple birds with one stone?"
As his voice fell.
The Tathagata and the Burning Lamp Buddha, who had already been shocked twice, were once again utterly stunned!
[Ding! The host's second and third steps have shocked the Tathagata for the second and third time, increasing his admiration and obedience towards the host. Reward: two ordinary innate spiritual treasures.]
[Ding! The host's second and third steps have shocked the Burning Lamp Buddha for the second and third time, increasing his desire to recruit the host. Reward: two Ding Hai Beads!]
The rewards this time were as usual.
But Sun Kong, having been through many such rewards, no longer cared much for such a paltry sum. He then left them there and departed.
Before leaving, he issued a stern warning. Although he had benevolently shared the plans for the second and third steps with them, it did not mean they could operate freely.
Otherwise, if he discovered they dared to plagiarize his ideas without his authorization, he wouldn't mind finding other ways to make things difficult for both of them!
"In short, the Buddhas of Spirit Mountain had better be sensible. Do not oppose me, but cooperate with me, otherwise, I might tear up our agreement and kick you out too."
Sun Kong's words were extremely harsh.
But due to his unique status and his methods of courting death, the Tathagata and the Burning Lamp Buddha had no choice but to agree, both nodding in assent!
Seeing their sensible response, Sun Kong's mood improved. He even wanted to invite the two of them to join his "Courting Death Class" after the Journey to the West was completed. With proper nurturing, they might achieve greater things!